Beijing: 2012

Jason has been enjoying his law school classes he has been taking so far here in Nanjing.  But we were both very excited when it came to leaving Nanjing and heading to Beijing for a weekend journey.  Beijing is further North than Nanjing, so it felt so nice to escape the hot humidity we have been experiencing here.

Beijing is a much larger city, with about 23 million people living there.  Our hotel room was very nice and we were excited to go and explore a new city.  We didn't have much time there so we wanted to just hit the necessities.  

We took a bullet train from Nanjing to Beijing.  Here is a picture of the fastest speed  they displayed on the train.  

I don't see any point in beating around the bush, so here are some pictures from the Great Wall of China.

Every new country we visit that has a major site we try to add a lock to the location.  We couldn't be on the Great Wall without locking our love.

Not sure what's going on in this picture.  Apparently these are our ninja poses.  

I could't believe how much my heart skipped when I saw the first glimpse of the wall in the distance.  As we kept getting closer and closer I started getting a dizzy feeling as if I were in a dream.  We climbed and hiked up the steep slopes and staircases but we were so excited to be there it didn't matter.

On our way back down from one of the towers we were walking down a staircase with a ton of Chinese tourists coming up the hill.  I guess I was too busy enjoying the beautiful view that I took a mistep and tumbled down a few steps.  Trust me, it wasn't graceful!  I ended up twisting my ankle, bruising my knee, tearing a hole in my backpack, and I fell onto the railing so I actually dislocated my right shoulder.  It was kind of funny because all at once I heard a giant Chinese *gasp* from the crowd.  I could feel a thousand eyes on me, so I jumped up, smiled and waved to everyone and just kept walking.  In my mind I was thinking about how I was going to watch my fall on YouTube the next day.  We still had to walk clear down the Great Wall to the main gate so I toughed it out and kept going with my bad ankle.  Really I was so excited I didn't feel a thing.  Jason likes to call this part of our trip: The Great Fall at the Great Wall.  Looking back on that it's nothing I regret, just another unique Jason and Lisa story.

I bought me a pet out in China.  Here is my new pet dragon whom I call "Mushu."

We heard about a deal in Beijing to get a 90 minute back massage for only $24.  Yes please!  So Jason spoiled me and got me a massage that felt so amazing!

Some of the other sights we saw were the Ming Tombs, the Summer Palace, Temple of Heaven, Tienanmen Square and The Forbidden City.  Here are pictures from all of those places.

Outside the Ming Tombs.  

A view of the rooftops.  

 

Kissing outside the Ming Tombs.  

The Temple of Heaven.  

   

Outside the Forbidden City.  

Chairman Mao.  

Jason in Tienanmen Square.   

Lisa in Tienanmen Square.  

Jason doing his kung fu in the Forbidden City.  

Inside the Forbidden City.  

Shhh... It's forbidden.  

Lisa and Whitney in the Forbidden City.  

The Lake at the Summer Palace.  

A view of the Summer Palace.  

We were also lucky enough to meet up with two of our friends that are from China that we met when they came to St. George to do an externship at Jason's old law firm.  They were so sweet and it was a blast to hear about what they are doing in Beijing and to get great advice from them.  It always makes me feel better when we know someone local when we travel just in case something happens.  Thanks so much Yao and Francis!

Basically it was an exhausting trip with beautiful but hot weather.  We are watching the news now and seeing how Beijing has been hit with a terrible rain storm and they are evacuating people from the city and even some people have died.  We are so grateful that we were able to have such an amazing time in Beijing and that our trip so far has been a success. We loved being in Beijing and we were so happy to see the Great Wall and check that off our bucket list!  Our next stop is in Shanghai!